The many religions of the world exhibit a large amount of different beliefs and philosophies. Some believe in many gods, some believe in just one god and yet there are those that believe in no god. One of the things that I agree with is that you can not love anything else unless you first learn to love and respect yourself. I also think that after one?s physical body is deceased, you become reincarnated. And lastly, I don?t recognize one god or overall being, but rather follow the example made by others. These are some religious elements I follow.

First of all, you can not love anything unless you love yourself. If you go around with self hate and little confidence, it gives you no room for any other affection. Buddhism and Taoism also believe this. Buddhism emphasizes love for one?s self greatly, and believe that you can not accomplish anything in life unless you take care of your mind and body. After you achieve self contentment, you must learn to love all beings. I am concerned with loving nature, much like Taoism. We get our food, oxygen, clothing and everything else we need to survive from nature. Without it, we would not exist. You should also pay great respect and love to your family and elders. As with nature, without them we would never have come into being. They teach us lessons and morals of how to live our lives. Shintoism feels strongly about praising our elders. They think that basically our whole life should revolve around those who brought us here. That is why love for one?s self is so important.

Secondly, I don?t think one?s soul ever truly dies. When a person dies, their physical body and life comes to an end. I think that their soul or karma continues to strive and find a new inhabitant. I always believed that if you can have a body without a soul, you can have a soul without a body. This is stressed in Hinduism and Buddhism They call reincarnation ?samsara?. I also agree with the fact that if you lead a good life, you will come back as something great in your next life. For instance, if you start an orphanage and spend your whole life devoted to saving children, you will come back as something like a queen or king. On the other hand, if you are a criminal, you will come back as a bug or worm. Hindus also believe in that rule. One thing I disagree with is the fact that anyone can exit this cycle of reincarnation. In Hinduism, they think that at some point you will be released and cease to exist. Sort of like a final death. I think that you will continue this cycle of life and death indefinitely. Those are my points of view